


The Sam Houston School of Magic

by coolkidmitch



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-19 02:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7341082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolkidmitch/pseuds/coolkidmitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriella Hernandez grew up in the middle of no where West Texas. And after years of boredom, she has finally been accepted into school. Well, two schools, actually. Ilvermorny and The Sam Houston School of Magic. While her heart was set on Ilvermorny, the most famous American wizarding school, her mother has decided it would be better she attend The Sam Houston School of Magic, located somewhere in the middle of Texas. So, lift yourselves up by the bootstraps and grab your wand, because it's time to go to magic school in Texas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sam Houston School of Magic

Gabriella held onto her bag tightly as she approached what looked to be a cowboy hat sitting in the middle of a dirt patch.

“It’s a portkey. Remember those? When we went to visit your Abuela in Matehuala?” 

She thought back many years before when she was only seven and her parents spent all the money they had on a trip to Mexico. The portkey then, if she remembered correctly, looked like a plastic shopping bag.

“Is it a good school?” Gabriella frowned, looking up at her mother.

“I don’t know, mija.” her mother tried to smile.

“But what if I don’t like it and the other kids make fun of me?” Gabriella clenched down tightly on her backpack straps and looked back down at the cowboy hat, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

“We’ve been over this a thousand and one times. You’re going to love it! You get to get away from your brothers and sisters. I was never so lucky to get accepted into a school like this one. Your abuela taught me everything she knew at home. You’re going to become an amazing witch.” she smiled.

“Can I ask you something?” Gabriella tried to relax.

“Of course.” her mother smiled.

“Why did you pick this school instead of Ilvermorny?” She had gotten two letters. One arrived from an elegant barn owl, written on expensive parchment in emerald ink with the wax seal of Ilvermorny and the next showed up carried in the sharp talons of a red-tailed hawk. The writing was still on parchment that looked to be burned around the edges, with only a short message saying she had been accepted into the sender’s school.

Her mother paused and looked at the cactus around her, the sweltering Texas sun beating down on them from above, “Because Texas is our home. Some school on the east coast up in the mountains isn’t who we are. After you become a fully grown Witch, I think you’ll understand more.”

“Isn’t that...closed minded?” Gabriella scrunched her face, trying to process it.

“You’ll see, once you get there.” she smiled and checked her watch. “Almost time. Are you ready?”

Gabriella looked around, not seeing anyone nearby, “Is it just me?” 

“Just you, mija. Remember what I told you, hold on tight and don’t let go until you see the world stop spinning.” she leaned over and grabbed Gabriella’s hand and placed it on the hat.

“I’ll write to you soon!” Gabriella felt like she was going to cry.

Before her mother could respond, Gabriella felt like something had hooked into her stomach. She was pulled away from wherever she was and started to spin. She instantly remembered that she hated portkeys.

It didn’t take nearly as long for the world to come back as it did when she went to Mexico. She saw the world reappear around her, remembering what her mother said and felt the hat unstick from her hand. She took a deep breath and let go. 

The last time she had traveled by portkey, she had landed so hard on the ground she thought she might have broken a rib. But this time, she felt herself gracefully falling toward the earth.

As she guided herself carefully, a large wooden sign appeared before her that said “Welcome to the Sam Houston School of Magic.”

~

“Howdy!” a man in a large black cowboy hat, a buttoned down shirt, and blue jeans met Gabriella as she landed in front of the school’s sign.

“H-hi.” she adjusted her bag, still a little dizzy from the trip.

“You must be from the Fort Stockton bunch?” he looked down at a wooden clip board in his hands. 

“Pecos, actually.” Gabirella smiled.

“Ahhh, you must be Miss Hernandez. Well welcome!” he reached onto his side and pulled a wand out of what looked like a gun holster from his hip. He waved it with a strong slice and the cowboy hat portkey she had taken vanished.

“Thanks.” Gabirella looked around and didn’t see any other students.

“My name is Warren Boone.” he reached up and tipped his hat at her.

“Of the---?” she could hardly believe it when she heard.

“The Daniel Boones? Yes ma’am.” he gave a smirk and slid his wand back into its holster.

“So you’re a….teacher?” she asked.

“Magical survivalism. Though I’ll be your introduction to herbology teacher since you’re in your first year.” he turned and waved her on.

She couldn’t quite see the school yet. She looked to be on top of a large hill, surrounded by overgrown cedar trees. It looked a lot like her home in west texas, but with a lot more rocks. Her mom, nor the letter, had disclosed the location of the school, but her assumption while looking around was that she might be closer to central Texas. Her family had taken a trip to San Antonio and Austin two years before and it seemed to look familiar from what she remembered. Cedar trees and cactus intertwined with one another between patches of long grass and rocks.

“So what do you know about our little school?” Warren asked.

“Well...I know it’s a magic school in Texas?” her mother had not told her much.

“I assume your parents did not attend?” he asked.

“No, my mother was home schooled in Mexico and my Dad is a no-maj.” she smiled when she thought about her father. She hadn’t seen him in almost a year, but that’s what happens when you work on an oil rig in the middle of the gulf of mexico.

“You’ll be seeing it shortly here. We’re going to take this path down into the gorge. Watch your step, the cacti aren’t used to you yet.” Warren pointed out the small plants that lined the edges of the path.

Her mother had a small cactus garden in the back of their home that she liked to read in. They didn’t keep many magical plants around the home, but she was familiar with a few of them. But this cactus was something had never seen before. It looked similar to most she had seen in the wild, flat pads stacked on one another with small colorful flowers and fruit sticking out of the edge but these ones had a violent blue color. As they walked, they started to grow and shift to reach for her. The small pink flowers on top spun in her direction, slowly edging back to their position once they passed.

“What are they?” Gabriella asked.

“They’re peril prickly pear.” he smiled, “They can sense a person’s underlying motives. If they sense danger, then they will attack with their thorns and the flowers explode into a puff of pink smoke. Really handy protection system.” 

Gabriella stared at the cacti as she walked down the path. The more she looked at them, the more she appreciated that the school took extra measures to keep its students safe. She had heard about how all the most famous wizarding schools were built on islands or in the mountains to have natural protection, but this was a completely different way of letting the land protect you.

As they curved a corner, Gabriella saw that the landscape was suddenly opening up behind the thick line of cedar trees. Below them at the edge of the cliff was a massive piece of land. There were dozens of large buildings stretching out across what looked like dozens of acres. Beyond was an open plain and small black specs that moved about. 

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Warren placed his hands on his hips and looked out. Above the edge of the school grounds were giant rocky hills that had sections sliced flat exposing a vast spectrum of natural color. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like there may be buildings built into the rocky walls.

“That over there is the main campus. Largest building, where most of the classes are held and the big meetin’ hall is there too. To the right of that are some of the dorms. We got the ranch in the back, which all students are required to work on once a week. Then we got the cliffs back there, where we have the more advanced classes.” Warren pointed it all out to her.

Gabriella felt her mouth open. The largest building to her left was massive. Bigger than any of the places she had seen in Pecos. She tried to count all the buildings, smaller houses she could see, and the smaller dorm buildings that looked more like cabins then she could tell.

“So which dorm is mine?” she looked over.

“Well, we won’t know that until you're put in yer’ house and get yer’ wand!”

Gabriella took a deep breath. She had read about what happened at Hogwarts and Ilvermorny. She was sure that she would have to go through some sort of magical test in order to be placed in whatever houses they had. 

“How do you sort?” Gabriella asked.

“You’ll see.” Warren gave a smirk and pulled his wand out again. They walked down the hill and he waved it about. She saw various enchantments bending and opening to allow them inside the school grounds. When they reached the gate, it looked similar to any sort of ranch gate. But on the front was a metal silhouette of a man. As they approached, an eye opened and blinked at them.

“Mornin’ Sam!” Warren nodded to the gate.

“Present your wand.” the portrait asked. Warren held out his wand in both hands allowing the small metal cut out to examine it. “And what do we never forget?”

Warren smirked, “The Alamo, sir.” 

“Damn right. Welcome to the school, kid.” 

The gate swung open and Gabriella felt like she was in for quite an interesting adventure.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for taking the time to read! This came out of seriously left field for me but I adore the idea of a Texas magic school. As a Texan myself, I have great love for my state. I have no clue what will come next but here's to hoping I write more!


End file.
